Pam: How about page 45, Real? In serendipitous honor of our dear 45th president.
Brenna: Hell yes.
Pam: I don’t know about you, but this poem feels almost ridiculously prescient.
Brenna: I will try very hard not to say anything that could incriminate me with the secret service.
Pam: And I’ll tell you at the start that I’m reading my own views into this. I love what she’s saying there. Man in agony = great because it’s not faked.
Brenna: Yes. No one wants to appear weak. So they’re not going to fake that.
Pam: Which brings the question, I suppose: is that the only time men can be trusted to be honest? When they’re in agony? This poem might agree.
Brenna: I think it might.At any other time, they may be dissembling.
Pam: This is what you write after an awful breakup.
Brenna: But pain, and death, they cannot fake.
Pam: Ann Coulter wrote this four hours ago.
Brenna: Does she necessarily mean “men,” or does she mean “humankind”?
Pam: I guess we can be nice and say she could be referring to all mankind. I guess.
Brenna: I like this poem. It rings very, very true. And it does seem prescient. It seems like something that really could have been written four hours ago. It sounds like me when I’m ranting about Facebook. Except I don’t do it in iambic quadrameter. I hate fakeness. And I think Emily hates it, too.
Pam: Yes! It sounds like someone who is beyond fed up. I want to know what inspired this. And it’s on page 45. You can’t make this up.
Brenna: I would much rather somebody show me their ugly–their faults, their flaws. I’m much more likely to be drawn to people who are real about the ups and downs of life than the people who sugarcoat everything, insist on dogged optimism, and snapchat their food.You really can’t make this up! It’s fantastic.
Pam: Oh my goodness. YES. I can relate to regular people. I can’t relate to people who are constantly wearing Instagram filters.
Brenna: I like a look of non-orange skin / Because I know it’s real / Men do not sham compassion / Or simulate a soul.
Pam: Beautiful.
Brenna: We conclude that it is on page 45 for good reason. It is a message from Emily from beyond the grave.
The Emily Project 